The Bat appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Despite some positives, substantial problems appeared here.
The biggest issue stemmed from the heavy use of grain reduction techniques. The image lost all forms of grain and that created an unnatural, smoothed-out presentation.
Inevitably, this impacted sharpness. Though the film brought adequate delineation, the grain removal left much of the movie without detail or real definition. Actors tended to appear plastic.
Other aspects of the image worked better, as I saw no jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws also failed to appear.
Blacks looked pretty deep and dense, while shadows showed appropriate delineation. If those behind the image didn’t go nuts with grain reduction, this would’ve been a fine presentation, but the unnatural vibe became an issue.
As for the DTS monaural soundtrack of Bat, it worked just fine given its age and ambitions. Speech consistently appeared intelligible enough. Despite some reedy tones, the lines came across well enough.
Music lacked much heft, but the score and songs were acceptably lively and full. Effects also showed decent clarity.
Those elements didn’t pack much of a punch, but they were fairly accurate and tight. No issues with source noise occurred, so I thought the audio was good enough for a “C+“.
As we move to extras, we begin with an audio commentary from film scholar Jason A. Ney, though he trots out a couple soundbites from actors Agnes Moorehead and Vincent Price too. Ney provides a running, screen-specific look at the source and various versions over the years, this adaptation and story/characters, cast and crew, production details and the movie’s release.
Ney offers a pretty solid chat here, as he offers a good mix of topics and brings us a nice view of these domains. Toss in his less than reverential – though not snotty – view of the film and this ends up as a high-quality commentary.
Additional audio-only material comes via nine radio episodes featuring Vincent Price. We find “The Strange Death of Charles Umberstein” (11/23/43, 29:13), “Fugue in C Minor” (6/1/44, 29:37), “Hunting Trip” (9/12/46, 29:51), “Present Tense” (1/31/50, 29:27), “Three Skeleton Key” (3/17/50, 29:26), “Blood Bath” (29:27), “Angel Street” (10/9/45, 24:48), “The Lodger” (5/19/46, 29:48), and “Speaking of Cinderella” (4/6/56, 29:20).
Expect a variety of subjects across these programs – and some noteworthy co-stars as well. Ida Lupino appears in “Fugue”, Lloyd Nolan works in “Trip”, and both Anne Baxter and Cedric Hardwicke perform in “Angel”.
Also anticipate a bunch of pretty effective productions. Some work better than others, of course, and “Hunting Trip” and “Blood Bath” probably become the best of the bunch. Nonetheless, these radio programs add a lot to this set.
The Case for Crane Wilbur runs 22 minutes, 24 seconds and involves a discussion of the career of writer/actor/director Wilbur. We don’t get a slew of real insights, but this feels like a decent overview.
The release finishes with a booklet that includes photos and an essay from Ney. It concludes matters on a positive note.
Do not expect much from The Bat, as it seems less whodunnit? and more who cares? Despite some talent, it becomes slow and dull. The Blu-ray offers acceptable audio and an appealing set of bonus materials but too much grain reduction damages the image. This turns into a surprisingly boring thriller.